Bilic confirmed he is interested in both Bony and Italy international Zaza, who West Ham tried and failed to sign last summer.

The Hammers boss wants to add firepower to his shot-shy side, who face Astra Giurgiu in the Europa League tonight, after losing Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew to injury.

He added: “Zaza is a top player and I like him. I was here last year so it tells you everything and we were in contact with him last year, it didn’t happen. We will see if it does in the next few days.

“Bony? He’s a good player, he’s an option because of the position that we tried to sign a player for even before the injuries. He’s a centre forward.”

Bilic also joked that West Ham’s rivals should be paying them a commission for helping to get all the strikers they’ve shown interest in back among the goals.

Both Bacca and Lyon’s Alex Lacazette, another player the Hammers missed out on, have scored hat-tricks for their clubs recently.

Bilic said: “Good targets, eh? We should get something from those clubs! We are better than any pre-season. Want your player to score a hat-trick? Here’s West Ham’s number!”

The Hammers boss also revealed he now expects wantaway striker Diafra Sakho, whose move to West Brom collapsed when he failed a medical, to stay at the club.

He said: “He was meant to go but that is gone now. I can’t see him leaving now because he is not training on the pitch, although he is very close to being back in training.”